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Friday, 3 March 2023

1 March 2023: Australian Industry Index

Industry treads water in February after a difficult new year

After a sharp contraction in the December / January period, the latest report of the new Ai Group Australian Industry Index® has indicated Australian industry was broadly flat in February as the pace of decline in activity eased, with new orders growing strongly and employment levels on the up.

Find out more

Upcoming Ai Group webinar, 17 April:

Empowering Regional Australia: A conversation with Catherine King

2 March 2023: Regional skills shortages

Funding to boost affordable housing investment in the regions

With many regional businesses struggling to attract and retain workers, the Minister for Regional Development, Catherine King, has told the National Press Club in Canberra that the Government's 'Housing Australia Future Fund' will help to address the problem by boosting investment in social and affordable housing across the country – particularly in the regions.

Find out more

1 March 2023: The Economy

National Accounts point to risk of price-wage spiral

This week's National Accounts release from the ABS points to a clear slowing of the economy as 2022 drew to a close, with the jury is still out on how far monetary and fiscal policy will need to further dampen the economy to bring inflation back under control. There is a clear risk that policy tightening will go too far.

Read Ai Group's comment in full

1 March 2023: Manufacturing Growth Program

Victoria's manufacturers urged to apply for grants

Small and medium-sized manufacturers can now apply for grants of up $250,000 under the Made in Victoria – Manufacturing Growth Program. The program will support manufacturers to introduce new technologies, expand operations and improve productivity. Last year, more than $10million was awarded to 29 projects, creating more than 550 new jobs across the State.

Find out more

3 March 2023: Supply Chain Management

How to decarbonise supply chains

Nestle has set ambitious targets for decarbonising its entire global supply chain. It’s a tough challenge – the supply chain is long and complex and includes everything from agriculture to manufacturing to warehousing to distribution to the end-user and much more. In this podcast, Nestle Director – Sustainability, Margaret Stuart, discusses how their supply chain is being redesigned and improved, ahead of time.

Listen to the podcast

9 March 2023: Ai Group CET Online Event

Plugging skills shortages through diversity

Diversity and inclusion is an essential strategy for many businesses looking to fill skills gaps. In this webinar we will speak with HR leaders from Ai Group member companies about skills challenges, their own diversity initiatives and the way these moves have helped with skill shortages. We will also hear about a government skills program which has seen a high percentage of diverse cohorts placed with businesses.

Find out more and register now

Did you catch Part 5 of the HR Fundamentals series?:
Conducting Workplace Investigations

30 March 2023: Ai Group Online Event

HR Fundamentals Part 6: Employment Contracts

The next webinar in our HR Fundamentals series will cover all you need to know about employment contracts including the interaction between legislation, industrial instruments and company policies; common terms that should (and should not) be in employment contracts; common mistakes to avoid; and the recent changes to the Fair Work Act with respect to pay secrecy clauses and fixed-term contracts.

Find out more and register now

Are you a Victorian business that produces, provides or critically relies on digital technology products or services?

The Victorian Government has partnered with Deloitte Access Economics to undertake a survey of the State’s ICT/digital technology sector.

This is your chance to help shape the delivery of digital economy initiatives, like the Digital Jobs program, Cremorne Digital Hub and Digital Innovation Futures (DIF), as well as help inform the development of new programs to support Victoria’s sector.

The survey is open to Victorian-based:

ICT businesses that offer digital technology products or services; and
Digital Technology businesses that critically rely on digital technology or internet infrastructure to operate. For example, media streaming, e-commerce or smart design and production processes.

Keen to have your say? If you have already received a survey link directly via email, it’s best to use that individualised link. Otherwise, you can complete the survey here.

The survey will close on 4 April 2023. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact ICTsurveyVic@deloitte.com.au.

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